I have been working with CS4 for a while now. I just did an update to get fixes installed and now when I open my Premiere project none of the preview files are being associated. It's all RED LINES AGAIN!! I checked and the preivew files are still there on my scratch drive. Why didn't these associate and how can I get the program to see them again? I do not have time to re-render the entire project, it took me a week to get them rendered properly the first time. I NEED HELP ASAP!! I have a deadline to meet in 24 hours and I'll never make it if I have to re-render.

If you haven't 'saved' the project after the botched opening, you can probably get them back by just reopening, and when Premiere asks you where the files are, just locate them as you would with any missing file.

If you have saved, or for whatever reason Premiere doesn't ask you where they are when you open, then you're hosed. No way to relink.

However, prerendering isn't always nececssary. If you're ready to export, just export.

The truth is, it never asked me about the missing files. The problem with re-renduring, besides the time, is that for some reason, some of the video filters I use (magic bullet, look suite) don't always render properly and I get wierd artifacts and misrendering. Last time I had to go through one clip at a time, render, save, render, save until the end. Or, I would have to shut down the computer, then render a while and get a little further but the longer I run the program, the less it's able to render properly. Very disapointing considering this is suppose to be a proffessional program. I wouldn't care if it rendered more slowly with a lot of effects on it, as long is it rendered correctly, but I have to babysit. Anyway, thanks for the response.

Re: rendering issue: I'd blame the plug-ins before I blamed the software. It's up to the third-party manufacturer to make sure their software or hardware works with the platform it's running on, not the other way around.

Re: missing preview files: I'd guess that something changed enough "under the hood' with the upgrade that the previously-created preview files were no longer viable on the upgraded software. What it was, I couldn't say--but prudence suggests not upgrading in the midst of a project, especially one that's time-sensitive.

The only way I can imagine that you'd be able to recover the existing preview files is to uninstall Premiere and then apply the update that was "last good" (I'm guessing this means 4.0.1). Then, try opening a back-up of your project file (hopefully you have one), or if all else fails, an auto-saved version. Beyond that, your only hope is that the render goes smoothly with the last update; though as Jim suggested, there's no reason to render if you're planning to export to a file. Just set up the export, and cross your fingers.

The third party plugin in have been using is a "looks" suite with digital filters, both preset and with the capability of creating my own or adjusting exiting looks. I know there are now many out there that do this but you anyone recomend a good one which works with with CS4, both Premiere and After Effects? I think you are right about this plugin being out of date.

I have been using LookSuite which came with Magic Bullet. I have been using it for several years as Adobe has released updated versions of it's products and I don't think LookSuite works so well with them anymore. Any suggestions for a filter plugins which are proven compatible with CS4?